South Carolina football: Gamecocks taking different approach to recruiting
By Jacob Elsey
South Carolina football will turn to the transfer market to fill recruiting class.
The Gamecocks kicked off the early signing period by landing eight signatures out of the nine commitments that remained in its 2021 class following the firing of former head coach Will Muschamp. While South Carolina is certainly excited to get the new signees to Columbia, the class was tied for the smallest among Power Five programs. Oregon State also signed eight players on Wednesday.
Every other team in the SEC got double digit signatures, including Auburn, who’s in a similar situation to the Gamecocks after its recent firing of Gus Malzahn. So how does Shane Beamer plan to close the gap?
His answer: the transfer portal.
"“Every time I pull up this cellphone, I have a text from someone saying, ‘So-and-so is in the portal. Here’s his number, here’s his mom’s name. We are not chasing after every guy, but … any position that you have a chance to improve the roster from top to bottom, we want to do that… [T]here is not a position we are not looking for from the transfer portal.”"
Obviously, South Carolina would’ve liked to sign a full class this week, rather than have to scour the market for transfers and junior college players, but Beamer is putting a positive spin on the situation. The Gamecocks have the luxury of being able to offer immediate playing time to a number of players that may be looking to make an instant impact in the SEC.
"“I can’t imagine there’s anyone in the country who has a better situation with initial scholarships available. We can really improve our team.”"
A number of those scholarship offers will likely go out to wide receivers and defensive backs, two areas where the Gamecocks struggled with both production and depth throughout the 2020 campaign.
In fact, South Carolina is still actively seeking signatures from WR Qua Davis and DB Isaiah Norris. Both are JUCO transfers that plan to sign this week, and they could offer immediate fill-ins at those positions of need. Obviously, the Gamecocks are not the only suitors, so they may be tough to land with Beamer having only been at the helm for two weeks, but it shows the approach that the program is going to take.
All in all, Beamer seemed pleased with the initial signing period, though he is realistic when it comes to the size and perception of the eight-man class. It is something he’s planning to build on.
"“When you sign as small a class as we are, your ranking is not going to be that high, and that’s OK. I would love to be on this call right now talking about 20 guys that are a top-10 recruiting class. Hopefully, that’ll be next year.”"
Hopefully, he can get that done next year in his first full recruiting cycle. For now, we’ll see how the Gamecocks are able to piece together the 2021 class and improve a team coming off of a two-win season.